Adele plays the first of six dates at Madison Square Garden.Kevin Mazur/Getty

It’s been said time and time again that Adele Adkins has the voice of a generation. On Monday night at Madison Square Garden, she put it to work.

The Londoner gave the sold-out crowd 45 minutes worth of wit and banter that was delivered at warp speed, and frequently wandered into hilarious territory. It was part stand-up routine, part meet-and-greet, part mothers-group meeting.

The singer, who’s in New York for a total of six shows at the world-famous arena (in support of last year’s “25” album, which sold 8 million copies), took to the stage to tell the crowd about her activities as a Manhattan tourist, including the obligatory stop to see “Hamilton” on Broadway, as well as a visit to the USS Intrepid. “I was not expecting it to be that good,” she chirped, with the excitement of someone preparing to give a five-star Yelp review.

Adele welcomed the crowd as if she were hosting in her own living room and gave enthusiastic shout-outs to people from as many different American cities as she could think of. Los Angeles, Dallas, Cincinnati, and (after prompting by her guitarist) even Fargo, N.D., all got mentions. During a later part of her set, held on a smaller B-stage, she spent a hysterical minute or so discussing the correct way to pronounce “Maryland.”

Adele was keen to salute her musical influences, too. In particular, Americana singer Alison Krauss received a ringing endorsement. “I’ve got Google alerts set up for her . . . it’s almost stalker vibes,” she laughed. Bob Dylan is also similarly revered in the Adkins household. “I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can’t actually understand what Bob Dylan is saying,” she admitted to a crowd of 18,000 people, most of whom were struggling to decipher her thick, cockney accent.

But you didn’t need a translator to understand that the 28-year-old has few airs and graces. A huge part of Adele’s appeal is her down-to-earth, self-effacing personality. So it was no surprise to hear her recall suffering from diarrhea during 2008’s now-famous “Saturday Night Live” performance or warn the crowd that she’s prone to spontaneous belching.

One of the reasons frequently cited for Adele’s reluctance to tour is her stage fright. But midway through this monster American tour (which runs through November), she seems to have settled into her stride, as proven when some overzealous fans threw her off an anecdote about a previous relationship. “Hang on, my darling, I’m telling a story,” she said, firmly but respectfully, to loud cheers. After five years away, most of Adele’s fans hang on her every word.

Between all the stories, jokes and chatter, Adele did some songs, too. There was a ballad about being sad. Another ballad about getting old. A slow song about feeling sad and old. And several about an old boyfriend who made her sad (which were also ballads).

It helped pad out her set to an even two hours, but when it comes to bantering, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone like Adele.